Mississauga has a transit card.
It’s only a trial run at two stations in the city, but it’s the first step in a long process that by 2016 will see the Presto fare card used at every transit station between Hamilton and Durham Region.
Minister of Transportation Donna Cansfield was in Mississauga this morning to announce the launch of the card trial, and to explain its significance.
“We know people travel beyond regional boundaries and they have to be able to do so quickly and conveniently,” she said as she stood out front of Cooksville station, one of the two stations taking part in the Presto trial run. “We need to make public transportation as seamless and as convenient as possible. We need to get commuters to put down their car keys and take public transit instead.”
Once enabled in mid-July, the Presto card will allow commuters to pay for rides on the Mississauga Transit bus, the GO train, and the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) subway, all by swiping your card at the beginning of the different legs of the trip.
Each system will maintain separate fares that wil be deducted from the Presto card with each swipe.
Cansfield said Presto simplifies the commute and saves people from constantly digging for change in their pockets or searching for tickets.
Starting tomorrow morning, Mississauga Transit will be recruiting regular commuters on their Cooksville and Meadowvale shuttle buses in the morning.
Interested passengers will fill out applications to take part in the trial run, and 500 suitable candidates, based primarily on their travel habits, will receive Presto cards to test out.
Only the two Mississauga GO stations, and the shuttle buses that serve them, will be hooked up to the new system. In Toronto, only Union Station is currently on board.
In 2008, Oakville and Burlington will test the new system, and in spring of 2009, the entire Mississauga system will be on board.
At that point, according to TTC chair Adam Giambrone, Union Station will still be the only Toronto station using Presto. That means that a Mississauga-bound commuter heading home from midtown Toronto will still need TTC payment to get to the GO train, where they can then use their Presto card.
By 2010, five TTC stations will be online, with the full system currently scheduled to be in place by 2016.
Regardless of the long roll-out, and the fact the TTC still hasn’t officially signed on for full implementation, Mayor Hazel McCallion was ecstatic to see the card being unveiled.
“We are sold on the smart card, no doubt about it,” she said. “This is a very great day for Mississauga, and I hope in the near future it will be coming into effect in the whole GTA.”
